My Private Tokyo

Here are a few more shots from a studio session me and a friend did earlier in the month. In this particular case my vision was mainly on the same path as the past few studio shots I have put up. Again it was for the sake of refining some of the aspects from the previous attempts as I have a bigger concept this is all pushing towards. I'd rather take the time to keep things simple and straight forward in order to work out the fine details than to stage a more complex shoot and come across those shortfalls there.

These things end up becoming bigger productions and you, as a photographer, put yourself in a position where you have to plan and manage a lot of people and resources while still spending the time to create your vision. I wouldn't say it's hard, it's just a big time investment and not for everyone. Nothing ever goes according to plan and you have to be able to adjust and work around it. You have to plan for redundancy and alternatives as these types of projects are a big team effort and if even one of the facets of that team has to cancel last minute the whole thing can fall through and you end up wasting a lot of peoples time.

Things come up and plans change. Roll with the punches. It's going to happen so plan for it.

(Although I must admit the latter part of this blog entry does not relate to the people involved in this shoot, everything went well)

This past week we got a chance to view a lunar eclipse on the night of the winter solstice. I had before that day not seen a lunar eclipse to begin with and aside from getting out of the city to get a glimpse of the celestial event I had brought along my camera for the sake of doing some photography of the night sky.

It was not something I had done before, a learning experience through and through and although it involved a lot of cold feet and frozen hands it was well worth the effort dealing with our Canadian winters to not only get a beautiful view of the eclipse itself but a lunar sea to gaze upon.

I will definitely be looking to make a few trips farther up north, away from the light pollution and city lights in the hopes of getting some truly clear and scenic shots of our countryside in the night sky.

It's been a while since I had a bit of an update. Times have been busy as of late and it's definitely not a bad thing. I have been driving myself a lot lately, especially when it comes to lighting and studio work. There's many facets in that respect to a good photo, it's not of course just the lighting and composition but that's been the driving force as of late. On a positive note it's definitely helped to bring those other facets more into a conscious frame of mind as well as inspire some extra confidence and forward thinking when planning a photo shoot.

There's a lot to keep in mind, more so now do I realize that a lot of the steps you take towards putting together a bigger project do the small details really shine through. It becomes really important to have a strong vision and concept, an idea that you have considered on several different levels. Make up makes a huge factor, as does hair. It all has to work with the outfit, the model and the environment in which you shoot to create a strong composition. As mentioned earlier the lighting and other technicals are just as big a factor and when all is said and done you put in a huge amount of effort for a single shot or two.

It's one thing to have an endless amount of images in your portfolio, in the end though I want something that makes me stand out and shine. It's important to practice shooting and refine your fundamentals but it's also important to push yourself to a new level every chance you get.

Over the weekend a number of us put together a studio event what we dubbed the "Photographer Round Robin". The idea behind the event was to bring a number of talented individuals together and collaborate to get everyone involved a variety of quality head shots which they could use for their profile picture in regards to their hobby or business. We all need to put a face to the name, especially when the product were providing is us.

The set up was fairly simple. Each photographer came in with an idea or theme and had every other person there be in front of the camera for s number of shots, we then switched to another photographer and their setup and repeated the process for each individual. By the end of the night we all had a variety of different looks and themes and many shots of ourselves within those. Best of all, we got to draw upon each other's talents and refine the rough edges we all have as well as experience a variety of methods and approaches to the whole idea.

It was a fantastic way to spend an afternoon and everyone who came out of it benefited greatly. Becoming involved in the community around you can introduce you to many great individuals and influence your craft in ways you wouldn't think otherwise. Make friends, help people, do good. It comes back in the end.

None of us really get into photography for the initial sake of helping people, we may get those intentions over time but it's not often those are the reasons we pick up a camera. It often is though the by product of doing what we love. Some where down the line as photographers we realize that what we do can have some real influence in the world as well as the people around us.

It's a rewarding feeling when you can express yourself artistically, capture a moment in time, a moment that can last a persons life time and still have that bring a lot of positive aspects to a persons life. A simple portrait may help someone bring confidence into their life. A candid shot can preserve a memory for future generations. A product shot can help drive a business in sales. Looking in the mirror each night knowing that you are responsible for that sort of creation, no matter how small or intangible it may seem at the time, is a good feeling. We don't think about it often but it's nice outlook that can help drive us further. We are lucky, we get to create instead of destroy, and it's quite simply a beautiful thing.

I got a chance on Thursday of last week to shoot with a person I've wanted to shoot with for a while now. It ended up being in the middle of a very hectic and upside down week for me but nonetheless I didn't want to move it to another date, certainly not with how short the days are becoming now and how cold it's getting. There are not many opportunities left to still get a autumn feeling from a photo as it's supposed to start snowing this upcoming week.

On that note I'm really beginning to warm up to using the different locations around the U of A for shoots. There is a lot of rustic elements to play with, a variety of open and accessible spaces within reach of each other and no shortage of interesting architecture. I want to explore this more in the coming months, certainly not out of fear of finding new locales but because there's still a lot of opportunities there.

For a change I will also push myself to do more outside photography this winter. Given our ranging temperatures it's not always the most enjoyable of experiences but there's a lot to explore, creatively, out there.

I had a chance to do a quick portrait session with a good friend and make up artist who's helped me on shoot before. She always makes for a beautiful subject and today was no exception.

I made a silly mistake early one, one that I had not made in quite some time. I was in a rush and didn't check all my gear. When I got to the location and began to set up my OCF not only did I forget to grab the proper mount for the makeshift speed ring I had rigged up for my flash but I had also forgot to bring along the proper sync cord.  I guess I needed a good reminder to always no matter what check that I have what I need in my camera bag.

We made the best of it and just shot with natural light, no reflector or scrims as I didn't have an assistant with me and it was originally set up for the sake of practicing a few elements which weren't related to lighting, not that it's an excuse not to do a good job but you can get some amazing results if you stop and "see the light".  It was also a good experience with going with the flow.